The Caledonia-based Regional News has become the first media outlet in Canada to publish the full story of our Ipperwash Papers project — in a two-part series that appeared Feb 18 & 25/09. Both parts are reprinted below as they appeared (photos are added) with references following.

The authors would like to thank publisher Chris Pickup and reporter Bill Jackson for allowing us to tell this important story in our own words. The Regional News has been a fierce watchdog for the people of Haldimand County, and we are very grateful to them. As Mark Vandermaas once said:

When the politicians and police finally realize that no realistic landclaim solution is possible if they continue to ignore the innocent victims of landclaim lawlessness it will be due in no small part because one courageous newspaper and a gutsy reporter held true to the highest and finest ideals of journalism in a town where fear has silenced so many.

On the sandy roads and beautiful Lake Huron beaches of Ipperwash, 35 kilometres north of Sarnia, Ontario there are few signs of the turmoil that once ripped apart an entire community and set others on a collision course with land claim anarchy thanks to a public inquiry that wasn’t.

Imagine if a future government invested $20 Million and three years on an inquiry into the Caledonia crisis, but refused to allow a single resident to testify, and deliberately excluded every shred of evidence of crimes against them by native protesters. What if this inquiry was then used to hold natives blameless and justify a ‘hands off’ policy against land claim lawlessness in other Ontario towns? This is the legacy of Premier McGuinty’s Ipperwash Inquiry.

Your recent endorsement of the OPP ‘Framework’ is most disturbing. Mr. McHale has already provided you with information regarding how this Framework has been used to openly violate the rights and safety of innocent non-natives caught up in land claims through no fault of their own, therefore, I will not spend much time on that issue. I do hope you’ve taken the time to read Mr. McHale’s Charter Application and watched the video of Shawn Brant declaring he doesn’t give a ‘rat’s ass’ how many victims he creates!

SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE BY IPPERWASH INQUIRY: You are correct in that the Commissioner of the Ipperwash Inquiry did indeed endorse the Framework as ‘best practices.’ What you likely do not know, however, is that the Inquiry deliberately excluded all non-native Ipperwash residents from testifying. It also refused to publish their evidence.

The Brantford Expositor today published a letter written by CANACE President and Executive Director Gary McHale intended to expose the attempt by a group called ‘Two Row Understanding Through Education’ (TRUE) to blame the media for the well-deserved black-eye native extremists are receiving in the media.

Mr. McHale made it clear that CANACE believes that if true healing is to begin, native extremists owe an apology to the innocent victims – both native and non-native – of their lawlessness, and that CANACE will not allow them to rewrite history:

On July 13/08 CANACE issued three strongly worded editorials to aggressively confront an attempt by a coalition of Brantford builders called the Haldimand Tract Good Neighbours Coalition to sell out Canadian justice by urging municipalities to turn over taxpayers’ monies to the Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI), an organization that has shut down development sites in Hagersville, Cayuga and Brantford with intimidation and illegal occupations.

On May 12/08 a Cayuga builder authorized CANACE to gather evidence to support criminal charges against natives who had shut down their townhouse development. CANACE co-founder Jeff Parkinson was filming as Executive Director Gary McHale asked the OPP site commander Sergeant Michaud for an explanation as to why he and his officers were refusing to enforce the law – and received a shocking admission:

Sgt. Michaud explains that Ontario's Land Title deeds are NOT sufficient proof of ownership for the OPP. May 12/08

Video 1: shows, A: the Sergeant explaining that land title deeds are not sufficient to prove land ownership to the OPP’s satisfaction and B: that the OPP is being directed by the Crown Attorney not to enforce the law.

This conversation took place just 5 days after CANACE released its ‘Legalized MYTHS of Illegal Occupations‘ report in which we exposed the complete lack of legal justification for allowing native protesters to victimize property owners.